


The second chance.

by ManInSilverAndBlack



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Chara Has Their Own Body, Female Frisk, Gen, Good Chara, Male Chara, Mostly Chara-centric, POV First Person, Some graphic violence in chapter 2, and flashbacks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-12-10 05:59:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11685519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ManInSilverAndBlack/pseuds/ManInSilverAndBlack
Summary: It's been years. Long time passed since he decided for a dangerous gamble, a plan with no hope of getting out of alive. He died. And it came to waste when the plan failed....So why now he is once again alive?And does it have anything to do with that other human, who just fell down?





	1. A new beginning.

**Author's Note:**

> An idea that came to me once, several months ago, and which I decided to write down now in between bigger projects. At first I actually planned it as a comic, but I am terrible at drawing, so I quickly gave up on that idea. Then I considered a sprite comic for a while, but a) those are tedious to make and b) why does every single Undertale AU have to be made in a sprite comic form? So in the end I settled on normal fic.  
> Also, generally my fics have female Chara and male Frisk, but this one is an AU anyway, so hey - why not twist things around a little while at it?

long ago, two races ruled over Earth.

Humans and monsters.

One day, war broke out between two races.

After a long battle, the humans were victorious. They sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell.

Now, after many years, they say that anyone who climbs the cursed mountain Mount Ebott disappears and never returns.

This is where the monsters were sealed.

And yet... a long time ago, a human fell into the Ruins, in the deepest part of the Underground.

Injured by his fall, the human called out for help. Asriel, the monster king's son, heard the human's call.

He brought the human back to the castle.

Over time, Asriel and the human became like siblings. The king and queen treated the human child as their own.

The underground was full of hope.

Then... one day... the human became very ill.

The sick human had only one request - to see the flowers from his village.

But there was nothing monsters could do.

The next day... the human died. Asriel, wracked with grief, absorbed his soul.

He transformed into a being with incredible power. With the human soul, Asriel crossed the Barrier between the worlds of humans and monsters. 

He carried the human's body into the sunset, back to his village.

In the center of the village, he found a bed of golden flowers and carried the human onto it.

Suddenly, screams rang out. The villagers saw Asriel holding the human's body. They thought that he had killed the child and attacked him with everything they had.

He was struck with blow after blow. He had the power to destroy them all. But... Asriel did not fight back. Clutching the human... he smiled, and walked away.

Wounded, Asriel stumbled home. He entered the castle and collapsed.

He died.

I thought that this is his end. Asriel is gone and won't come back. After all, there is no way to come back from death, is there?

I was sure about it. And I was proven wrong.

That human... the one whom Asriel called his brother, one who fell down, one whose death led to Asriel's tragedy...

It was me. It is me.

Name is Chara Dreemurr. I... just came back from the death. And right now, I am lying down here, mildly confused.

Okay, very confused.

* * *

It actually took me half a minute or so before I realised that I am once again conscious. Then another half before it came to me that, beyond all doubt, I am not a ghost.

So... was it all a dream? I'll open my eyes only to find out that I am still lying in my bed and I didn't actually get sick, nor did I die... I didn't accidentaly kill Asriel?

...Well... darn. It doesn't seem like my room.

Nor does it seem like the royal palace at all.

I was in a cave. It took a moment before it came to me that it's the same one where I first fell. It didn't really change that much - I was thrown off by a huge bed of golden flowers growing in the single spot of light, coming from the hole in the ceiling. The same flowers that I wanted to see... but how? They never grew in the Underground. And yet it seemed like those had plenty of time to anchor and grow - they were tall, springy and soft, like a real bed... just what happened!? How can I still be alive!? How much time has passed!?

Something moved next to me. I slowly turned around...

A human! I sprang up and put a hand in my pocket.

I didn't have my knife with me. Obviously. I didn't have it on me when I died.

...But what actually happened? What made me come back? Judging by those flowers, it must have been few years - and yet it felt like just a few minutes ago...

I still had on the same clothes in which I was dressed after death. I could see it clearly through Asriel's eyes after our souls were fused. And yet they didn't show any signs of age... like... like no time passed at all since then.

I glanced up on the human. A young girl, no older than ten, so younger than me, slowly regaining her consciousness. Shoulder-long brown hair, wearing a blue t-shirt with two horizontal purple stripes, black shorts and white shoes. A small, worn down bag was lying next to her. Nothing of those was what I'd call a climbing equipment - and yet she clearly fell down from Mount Ebott, just like me all those years ago. Unlike me, she had those flowers to break her fall - which is why she managed to get here with just a few bruises (and one nasty-looking cut on her knee), when I almost bleed myself to death by the time mom... the queen could patch me up. The world is just unfair like that.

So... it seems like much time passed, and yet at the same time no time passed at all... it sounds terribly mangled, unclear and just plain weird, but let's just chalk it down to our laungage not being accommodated for talking about time travel. Anyway... whatever happened, there was only one explanation.

Determination. That strange power wielded by humans, which made them so much more powerful than monsters. It could be used to manipulate time - heck, it was how I first learned about its very existence! - and even though it was normally exclusive to the most powerful humans around, it was weakened and blocked away by the Barrier - meaning that behind it, any human could play with time in any way they desired.

But... how and why would that girl be able for such feat, while out cold? Granted, I really feared that power - what with dad only having some very basic knowledge about its existence and mom and Asriel having no idea what it is - and only ever used it as an absolute last resort (that is, maybe five times through my whole live Underground), but I had enough practice with it to know some basic rules. There's no way to just reset something while letting everything else go on, or rewind everything while making something stay the same. And, most importantly - there's no way to rewind past the moment you got the power. I tried it while still fused with Asriel in an attempt to save him - but I lost the power moment he crossed the Barrier, and when I got it back, I could only reset to the moment he stumbled into the Underground, terribly maimed by humans.

By humans! Humans, one of whom was lying just now before me, completely helpless!

It took me a few seconds - and reminding myself that I am unarmed - to actually realise that I almost tried to murder a helpless human for no reason beside her being... well... a human. It wasn't like she could be involved in any way in what happened to Asriel - she was just to young. Assuming that four years passed since then - which was completely crazy looking at my clothes, but quite reasonable judging by the flowers - she would be at most six at the time.

Then again - she was a human. Experience taught me that humans can't be trusted. Okay, maybe there really are some good humans out there - but with the sheer amount of the evil ones it's better to be extremely careful. Who knows what might happen when she wakes up? Even someone as young as her was already a threat for an unprepared monster - what if she decides to kill them all?

But before I could actually figure out what to do, she finally woke up. She looked around - I was standing outside the light and outside her field of view, thus she didn't notice me - and tried to stand up, only to let out a grunt of pain and cover her injured knee. She picked up her bag and took a bandage from it - which, I noted, looked like it was already used a few times - and carefully wrapped it around the wound. She was looking around all the time, as if trying to remember something.

After thrid failed attempt at dressing the cut (mostly due to state of the bandage) she once again looked around. She finally noticed me - and fell on her back, surprised.

"Don't sneak up on people like that! You scared me!"

I shrugged.

"I didn't sneak up on anyone. Was standing here all the time."

She gave me a disapproving look and returned to the bandage.

"Can you help me?" She asked.

I agreed with some reluctance. Idea of helping another human wouldn't normally cross my mind - when did  _they_ help me? But... leave her lying here? No, it would be bad.

Together we managed to somehow cover the cut. It clearly hurt, but she seemed able to stand up on her own, propping on a stick that fell down with her.

She looked at me - and I already knew what's awaiting me before she even opened her mouth.

"What are you doing here? Who are you? What is this place? Is there a way back up?"

Woah. I didn't expect so many at once.

"Slow down. I am... also slightly confused about everything. Something strange happened. Yes, I can answer most of these. But you'll also need to tell me something about you."

"Okay... I have nothing to hide."

"So... right now, we're Underground." She sent me a strange look. "I mean... Underground with capital <<U>>." She looked at me even stranger. "...Kingdom of monsters, if you preffer." Yeah, it was predictable. Right now she was sure I am either mad, or pulling her leg. "Yes, I know how it sounds like. But... just believe me - monsters are real. Really. And we'll certainly meet them soon." She didn't seem convinced at all. "Who am I? That's not really important. What am I doing here?" I sighed. "It will of course sound strange when I say I'm living down here, right?" She rolled her eyes and nodded. "...And as for a way back up..." I stopped for a moment. Everyone knew that the Barrier can be only crossed by fusing a monster soul with a human soul - and that required either one dying. If I tell her... no. She doesn't need to know. "...There isn't one. We're trapped down here..." ...Hey, I told her about monsters already anyway, so... "...With a whole nest of dangerous monsters. Yes, they eat humans." I tried to keep a straight face. "There were already others before you... and they were all killed. I am the only one to survive. So if you want to live, better stay with me."

...Yeah, she didn't believe in a single word.

"Don't try fooling me! I'm not a kid. Monsters aren't real..."

"...You'll see for yourself. Don't say I didn't warn you. You certainly heard the legends." I stood up with a smile. "Okay, let's move on. The Underground is quite large. Not huge, but... size of a small city, maybe two." I led her towards the only exit from the small cave, leading to another one, much bigger. "What's your name, anyway?"

"You didn't tell me yours, so why should I tell you mine?"

"You said you have nothing to hide."

She sighed.

"I am Frisk. And you?"

"Told you already - that's not important right now." Call me childish, but hey - I really didn't want to tell her much about myself right now.

As Frisk exited the cave, I stopped for a moment and turned around to give it one last look. Just how much time passed? Maybe I'll get lucky and meet some monster I knew before... then again, just how am I supposed to tell them that I came back from death?

And what if for any reason they won't remember me?

Suddenly I heard a scream of pain and horror.

Frisk! What happened to her!?

I ran after her, only to see...

A flower-like monster with six golden petals surrounding white face with bloody red eyes and fanged maw. Frisk was kneeling in front of him, clutching her arm. Tears of pain were coming down her face, and blood was dripping from between her fingers. Before her, a small, ethereal, red heart was floating. A human soul. It was unusually small - I could swear on anything that mine was at least two times bigger.

"Your friend was right to warn you! IN THIS WORLD, IT'S KILL OR BE KILLED! I don't know how he evaded all monsters up to this point, BUT HE'LL BE NEXT ONCE I FINISH WITH YOU!~"

I never saw that species of monster before - and I never though any monster would be capable of such viciousness. He sounded  _happy_ that he can kill her! And even happier than he will do the same to me in a moment!

A circle of seed-like magic bullets surrounded her and started to slowly tighten on her. She tried to push them away with her stick - but they just phased through it like nothing.

"Stop! What are you doing!?" I have no idea why exactly I decided to show myself or what I expected - but it definitely wasn't the sight of evil flower turning towards me, deeply confused and surprised. Bullets around Frisk stopped for a moment.

"...No... how... how is that even possible?" Flower leaned forward on his stalk. "It can't be... Chara? Is that... really you?"

"Get away from her." I couldn't recall when or where did I met him before, but he clearly remembered me.

"No, wait..." He wanted to say something, only to suddenly get swatted away by a fireball. It didn't do him any lasting harm - but it scared and hurt him enough to make him run away.

Fire magic is considered one of the most basic skill among monsters - but not many use it in combat and very few can create a flame hot enough to burn, but not enough to be actually danegrous. And out of those monsters, I only ever knew one able to form it into a fireball and throw around with such precision.

Huge, shadowy figure moved towards Frisk. She tried to back away, but quickly ended up leaning against a rock wall. Monster kneeled before her.

"Don't be afraid, my child." Soft, calming, feminine voice came from the shadow. "I am not going to hurt you. You don't have to worry." A green light appeared in her hand as she slowly moved her palm over girl's wounded arm. Blood disappeared and wound immediately closed. Another flash of green light - and a cut on her knee also healed. Frisk slowly stood up.

"T-thank you... but... w-who are you, m-miss..."

Another flame slowly came down, warm and bright, but not hot, revealing the monster hidden in shadows. A little over seven feet tall, humanoid, goatlike creature covered in white fur, with red eyes, floppy ears, small fangs extending from below her lip and short horns on head. She was wearing long, purple robe with white sleeves, decorated with a symbol of a winged circle floating over three triangles.

Toriel Dreemurr. Queen of the Underground... and my adoptive mother.

"My name is Toriel. Please, just call me Toriel. I am the caretaker of the Ruins. I pass through every day to see if any humans fell down." Up to this point she was too preoccupied with Frisk to pay much attention to me. Now she turned to face me - and the moment our eyes met, her gentle smile changed to expression of utter, complete shock. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped slightly. She blinked a few times, as if making sure I am really here, before moving towards me.

"...Chara..." She knelled down and looked at me and slowly, reluctantly put her hand on my arm. "...My son... is that... really you?"

"It's me. I... I don't know... I don't know how... but I returned. It's me, really..." Anything else I tried to say got muffled as Toriel embraced me in a hug of a mother whose child miraculously returned to live. Tears of joy came down her cheeks.

"My... son..." She choked. "You're... really back... after all... those years..."

It took her a few minutes to regain her composure. Finally she released me and slowly stood up.

"But... does that mean that... Asriel too?..."

"I don't know. He wasn't there with me when I woke up. Only Frisk..." Only now I noticed that Frisk moved back to the corner of the cave, still wary of mom. "...Only Frisk was with me..."

Toriel moved towards her.

"There is no need to be afraid, my child." She gave her a gentle smile. "...I see you aren't the most  _frisky_ person around..." She smiled even wider as Frisk gave her a surprised look. I rolled my eyes.

"Welcome to the Punderground. Better enjoy your stay. As I said, there is no way back up."

Frisk slowly stood up.

"Miss Tori... Toriel... you're a monster... right?"

"Right. Aside from you two, there are only monsters down here in the Punderground." Yeah, should've stayed silent. "But don't worry. Monsters won't attack you without reason."

"But... Chara, right?" And here goes my anonymity. "...You said that monsters hunt down and eat humans..."

...Blabber.

Toriel sent me one of her infamous disapproving glares.

"Chara, I tought you were more responsible than that." Yup. Here comes another long lecture about why playing jokes on others is bad. Had to go through it hundreds of times. Asriel would always fall for the same prank countless times until I got bored and came up with a new one. "You can't misguide others just because you think it's funny. People will stop trusting you and once you will need help, you won't find it." She sighed. "We will talk about it at home. Let's move on."

That reminded me about something. Just what was she doing here? She said that she comes here every day, but royal palace was on the other end of the Underground! And that title... caretaker of the Ruins... what does it even mean? Wasn't she the queen of the monsters? Granted, she's never been the kind of person that pays much attention to titles, but it seemed at very least strange.

"Mom... what are you doing in the Ruins? And where is dad?"

She turned to face me - and gave me a sad look.

"Much happened since you and Asriel..." She turned away. "...Well... let's talk about it when we get back home." She paused for a moment. "Since then I moved to the old palace. It's close."

Moved? Why? What happened? It all raised even more questions.

Old royal palace has been abandoned soon after I fell down. Since then nobody lived there aside from us occasionally spending a few days in Ruins. It always involved much tidying up and making sure everything is still in the same state as when we left. There was no reason for mom to live here all the time... unless...

...Unless there was a reason? I didn't know enough about current situation to tell if there is any, so I decided to just leave it for now.

I turned to Frisk. She also had many questions. And of course when she finally starts asking them, I will have to be the one providing answers.


	2. Memories and questions.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guiding his new companion through the Ruins, Chara tries to find answers to what happened throughout the time he was dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took longer than expected. I had my flat renovated, and then I got ill and couldn't even think about writing.  
> Also, this chapter is almost exclusively Chara and Toriel explaining to Frisk how everything works in the Underground, what save points are, etc. Sorry for that.

It didn't really seem like Ruins changed that much. Toriel led us up some stairs. I noted a small, star-like, shining object floating over the ground.

A save point. A point in space where huge amounts of DT meet with the delicate thread of time, leading to...

...Okay, okay, I have no idea how they actually work. What I know is that by activating those, I can... well... save that exact moment when I did it, letting me go back in time to that exact point whenever I want.

Nevermind that the actual reason why I always called them "save points" was because they reminded me of save points from Chrono Trigger.

I noted how the star was flickering, almost as if it could go out any moment. I extended slightly my hand while passing over it. Maybe, just maybe there is still one of my earlier saves somewhere?

Frisk also clearly noticed it. She touched the star, then quickly moved her hand away when it twinkled even more.

"What is this?"

"I'll tell you later. Come on."

I doubt any monster can see those save points, and only some know about those. Mom isn't one of them (or at least wasn't all those years ago) and I didn't really feel like explaining everything to everyone right now. She luckily didn't notice anything strange.

Soon we stopped before a big, tightly shut gate. I remembered it - except back in the day it was usually kept open and guarded by several monsters. It was ment to stop humans from attacking monsters - assuming that any human ever got there with killing intent. After my arrival, many monsters slowly started to find a thought of murderous human ridiculous - did Asriel's death remind them about the war and what humans are capable of?

From the other side door could be locked or unlocked with just the flip of a lever. On this side, we had to solve rather simple puzzle lock.

"There are all sorts of puzzles there in the Ruins", Toriel explained to Frisk. "Long ago we feared humans, and those riddles were supposed to keep them away from us." She guided us through a short path of pressure plates. I still remembered the pattern - press two on the left an two on the right, leave three in the middle. The gate slowly opened.

Passing through, I noticed a small, stone tablet on the wall.  _Only the fearless may proceed. Brave ones, foolish ones - both not walk the middle path._ A hint all monsters were taught in case they ever got stuck outside with no one to open the door for them. But why now it's written here, where everyone can read it easily, with human letters rather than runes usually used by monsters? Doesn't it completely destroy the sense of having a lock?

I asked mom about it.

"Underground has changed. It's a long story, but right now... let's just say I had to make sure anyone can pass through the traps safely."

"How about the guards?"

"There is no longer anyone in the Ruins willing or even capable of guard job. Almost all monsters moved closer to the Barrier. Those left are either old or weak."

So why can't anyone just get there from the other parts of the Underground? More and more questions arised as we passed through a long corridor with another puzzle lock. Behind it was a small room with a dummy standing in the middle.

Toriel turned to us.

"Underground is no longer safe for humans. Here, in the Ruins, you aren't in much danger - but even here, monsters might still attack you." What!? Why would any monster want to attack us?...

...Oh. So they DID remember about what humans did to them. That would explain much.

"...Chara, you know what monsters are like. Yes, they might want to fight - but there is always a way to talk them down." That was also true. It's much harder for a monster to maintain any ill will than for a human. "That's why you two should practice talking on this dummy." WHAT!? At first I thought I misheard something, but Frisk looked just as confused as me.

Okay. Monsters are really different from humans, and their idea of sanity might seem like complete, utter madness to us. But... what the heck? Talking to  _a dummy?_ And I always considered Toriel one of the most sane people down here!

Frisk slowly came closer to the mannequin and looked into its button eyes.

"Uh... hi..." She was obviously feeling strange. "So... how are you? You know... there is no need to fight, we could just... sit down and play some games or talk about something..."

Toriel gave her approving look.

"Your turn, Chara."

I still didn't like that idea, but mom definitely wasn't going to back off from anything she considered necessary for safety of anyone under her care.

"Greetings." I stepped closer. "What are you doing? Could you let me pass through? Thanks."

Okay, that was awkward, but Toriel seemed really proud.

We passed through yet another corridor, filled with spikes protruding from the ground, with some of them retracting when a pressure was applied at right point (Toriel actually led us through that one rather than letting us solve it by ourselves, and Frisk seemed grateful for that). Then another, mostly empty, with a big column at the end looking like it was built much latter than whole rest of the hallway (it  _was_ built much latter - or at least that's the only explanation for why I couldn't remeber it being here earlier). Suddenly, mom stopped.

"I must leave you here for a moment. I should be back soon, so please don't go anywhere." She put her hand in pocket and pulled out a cellphone. I recognised it as the same one that once belonged to me. "If any problem arises, just call me. And..." She suddenly pulled me into a hug. "...Don't leave us again... please..."

A few moments later I was alone with Frisk.

Up to this point we didn't have much opportunity to talk, with Toriel explaining to her how different traps work and how to get through them. Now she finally could ask me some important questions.

"So... Toriel is your adoptive mother, right?"

"Yes."

"She said something about you coming back... back from where?"

"Well..." It will sound extremely strange. "I came back... from death. I was dead. For... I don't really know how long, probably years."

And she was obviously surprised.

"How..."

"Don't even ask. I have no idea myself. I just died... lost consciousness for a while... and then woke up where we met."

We both went silent for a moment.

"Who is that... that one Toriel mentioned... As... Az..."

"Asriel. He is... he was my brother. Adoptive, I mean. Toriel's son."

"Did he also..."

"Yes."

Another few seconds of silence.

"You said monsters didn't hunt humans earlier... do you have any idea why would they now?"

Actually, I had.

"So... did you ever hear legends about monsters under Mount Ebott?"

"Not really. All I know is that some humans say it's cursed and no one ever comes back from there." She looked me in the eyes. "Hey, I don't have time for legends! Who would believe..." She realised that, actually, that one legend DID turn out to be true. "...Who would believe in some old fairy tales about evil monsters?"

"Okay. It would make everything much easier if you did have time for it, but since you don't... I'll just treat you with actual version." I crouched and started drawing a crude image of a mountain on the ground. "So it all started with that great war... back then humans and monsters were living together on the surface. Anyway, they started fighting each other, and humans won." I drew several stick figures under the mountain and, realising how human they look, quickly added tails and horns. "Monsters that survived the war were trapped down here, and a magic barrier was created to prevent them from leaving." I encircled the picture with a dome-like shape. "Anything can get inside, but nothing can leave. But the Barrier has one weakness." I surrounded the dome with seven heart shapes. "It's physically unbreakable, and can regenerate far to fast to destroy it magically... but it has certain, exact durability - and if attacked with enough power to completely destroy it in one attack... it will be destroyed and won't regenerate. The Barrier was created by seven human sorcerers with all their strenght joined - and that's how durable it is. Like power of seven human souls, joined together. That's what monsters need to break the Barrier. Their own souls are to weak for that, but a human soul is far stronger."

"But they let you live, right? Unless that's how you..."

"No. I wasn't killed by monsters. I just... well, I got ill." I looked at the picture. "Anyway, monsters couldn't bring themselves to kill me, so let me live among them. I got adopted by the royal family... yes, Toriel is the queen of monsters... or at least was back when I died..." Now here is the hard part. I'll have to tell her that there IS a way to pass through the Barrier. She doesn't look like a killer, but should I really trust a human? "...So, I got ill one day and no one knew how to heal me. I... I just wanted to see the sun, sky, flowers for the last time. So... I asked Asriel to take my soul and cross the Barrier with my body."

"Wait... how? How was he supposed to cross it?"

"It's possible to weaken that barrier enough to pass through if you fuse a human soul with a monster soul. Thing is, monster souls are generally to weak to survive death of the body, so a monster can absorb a human soul, but a human can't use a monster soul. We're trapped down here." I looked back at my pic. "So... Asriel crossed the Barrier and took me back to my hometown..."

"Was it maybe a town called Ebott?"

"Yes. How do you know?"

"Well... my grandparents live there. I visit them every summer... they often told me about a monster that once walked into the town with a body of a child... I never believed them, but..."

"Did they tell you when that happened?"

"I dunno... like, sixteen years ago?"

Sixteen years. I was dead for much longer than I was alive. And what if it wasn't Asriel that her grandparents told her about? What if there were more after us?

"Anyway... what happened to Asriel? Grandpa said that the monster ran away carrying the body after being attacked by several people."

"And... this is more or less what happened."

Still fresh memories started coming back.

* * *

From my perspective it was no longer than several hours ago when I finally died. Then a sudden flash... and I was looking at my own dead body through Asriel's eyes.

Tears were running down his face as he picked up my body. He's always been a crybaby, but now wasn't time for this. If anyone caught him...

It took me a moment before I realised that I can take control of his body - and I did it despite his protests. There was no time to waste.

I left a quick note on the night table and slowly oppened the door. We had to go out unnoticed.

If Asriel was to be believed, it's been a hour since my death. Mom was fast asleep. She didn't get a proper rest in last three days, not leaving my side even for a moment.

Dad went somewhere. After I stopped breathing, he just... lost any contact with reality. He couldn't come to terms with it. He left the palace and didn't come back yet.

We finally arrived. The Barrier was standing before us, huge, unbreakable, rainbow wall of light. I raised Asriel's hand and conjured a flaming mantle around his body. The Barrier slowly withdrew, only to immediately reform behind our back.

After a moment we were out of the cave. The sun was setting before our eyes.

Asriel looked at it in awe.

"So  _this_ is the sky? And sun?" He tried to look directly at the ball of light, but had to quickly avert his eyes. "...It's... beautiful..."

" _Yeah. And wait 'til you see stars and moon. They should start showing up soon._ " I didn't realise how much I myself missed this all until I saw it again. From up there we should have a great look at the night sky...

...No. No, no, no. We had to start moving. It was my idea, sure, but I still wanted to get it done as fast as possible and go back. And it was several hours walk down the mountain anyway, so it wasn't like we'd miss on it.

This time Asriel willingly let me in control. I knew the way back to the town.

Just as I predicted, it took us several hours of careful climbing down the rocky path, hardly ever visited by anyone. We saw lights of the town far away. It was still a long walk.

We stopped for a moment to eat several sandwiches Asriel snatched from kitchen before leaving. It was hard to tell what time it was. Around 3 a.m., I believe. Normally we'd be both sleeping at this hour... except I was dead, and Asriel was carrying my body and soul. It definitely didn't count as normal circumstances.

By the time we arrived at the village, the sun was slowly rising. It was still early and most people were asleep. We had to avoid those that weren't for any reason.

Town wasn't really that big, and I knew my way around it. We soon found the bed of golden flowers I remembered so well.

I slowly bent down and laid my body on it. So that is done. Now we just need to...

"A MONSTER!"

...Shoot. We got careless.

I saw a woman running away in terror - and a moment later humans started appearing. It seemed that up until that moment most of them didn't believe in existence of monsters - but now they had a living proof before their very eyes. And didn't like it.

After seeing Asriel some people ran back into their homes - only to return moments later, carrying shotguns. Others settled down on rakes, shovels or whatever else was on hand, and one picked up a canister of gasoline from his garage.

Before we could do anything, humans surrounded us and started closing in. If not for my dead body lying at Asriel's feet, there might be room for negotiations - but with such evidence, there was only one thing left to do.

I stepped forward, readying a spell that would rain lightning bolts down at them...

...And suddenly, I felt power leaving me, preventing me from doing anything. I felt overwhelming weakness. I was losing control of Asriel's body...

_"No. We can't do it. I won't let you..."_ He didn't say it out loud, instead sending me a mental signal. And it was as firm as his voice never was.

A gunshot broke the silence. Asriel yelped in pain and covered his shoulder with his palm - and I felt his pain.

Another bullet penetrated his knee, leaving him immobile. I tried my best not to focus on pain and once again started preparing the lightning.

Nothing happened. My brother didn't just kick me out of control - he was actively preventing me from regaining it.

_"ASRIEL, YOU IDIOT! WE NEED TO FIGHT BACK, CAN'T YOU SEE IT!?"_

_"I won't let you harm anyone..."_

_"CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND!? WE'RE NO LONGER IN THE UNDERGROUND! THIS IS THE SURFACE - AND HERE, IT'S KILL OR BE KILLED!"_

He just lowered his eyes and looked in my dead face.

_"Not if I have anything to say about it."_

Moment he looked up again, he got kicked in the face with enough force to break his nose. He spat out one of his fangs and shielded himself from another kick with his good arm.

A rake hit him in the back. His fur and sweater he was wearing did provide some protection, but I still felt several nasty cuts on his back. He managed to somehow crawl out of the way of another hit, only for yet another to catch his ear, severing it from the skull. Detached part almost immediately turned to dust.

"Leave it! That thing is already dead. Better think about what we do with that dead boy."

"We'll burn it, obviously! That's just a body. Heaven knows what kind of plague that creature might be carrying. If we leave it be, it will only bring us..."

The man saying it didn't have opportunity to finish, as suddenly Asriel found a new strenght - enough to headbutt him in the back and daze him for a moment. Now my brother was crawling forward... towards my body.

_"Leave it, Asriel! I am dead anyway, it's just a corpse!"_

_"I won't leave it for them to burn! Don't you understand you mean too much for me!?"_

I had no way to stop him, and villagers started attacking him with even more fury. Asriel managed to parry few hits with magically conjured shield, but it quickly broke, and he didn't have enough strenght to create another one. All he could do was to protect my body with his own as he took a blow after blow. A strong hit with an woodcutting axe left him with half the paw and two fingers missing. A kitchen knife got stuck in his back - a human or even normal, not empowered monster wouldn't be able to survive this, making it all that more painful to both of us. A shovel hit him in the elbow with enough force to break in half. A bat was falling on his skull every few seconds.

Finally they catched him - still clutching my dead body and the hilt of a broken shovel - and threw him out of the town.

We had to run, and we both knew it. Proping himself on the hilt, he slowly started to walk back - and he was still refusing to leave me behind.

He could have survived, if not for this.

None of his wounds was immediately lethal - but it took many hours before he arrived back at the Underground. By the time we arrived, not only those were killing him. He was exhausted, starving and thirsty.

The king and queen were waiting in the garden. They were both prepared for the worst... and even then...

"Asriel... my son... what happened? Who did this to you!?"

"H... Hu... mans..." Toriel  and Asgore were already both next to him and throwing around all sorts of healing spells, but all they managed to do was mend his nose and some minor injuries. "I... I should've... I... didn't... fight back..."

I felt something... new. Strange feeling in my... in  _Asriel's_ hand, as if it was slowly...

...No. No, no no...

...Yes. It was crumbling, turning to dust. Dust was falling down slowly, covering my body, flowers in the garden, seeds of the golden flowers, still sticking to his fur. Asriel was dying. Those humans KILLED HIM! For no reason, besides BEING A MONSTER!

It was too late to do anything. Asriel wanted to die in the Underground and mustered enough strenght to get there, but now he didn't have any left to keep up just a little more. A little more... that would be enough... just so he could get healed...

The dust already reached his forearm, and his legs, ears and other arm were also breaking down.

I could see dad watching it helplessly. I could see mom, running around frantically, desperately trying to heal whatever was left. I couldn't hear them anymore with Asriel's ears completely crumbled, but just seeing was already too much.

And then dust finally reached his eyes. It started slowly, with some small, black spots suddenly blocking out parts of our vision. Then they started growing and more of them appeared. We were seeing how an eye of a monster turning to dust looks in first person - and it was so terrible, I tried to just shut Asriel's eyes so I didn't have to look at it...

...Except he no longer had any eyelids to close.

Finally it stopped. Asriel, and by extension me, was now deaf and blind.

And moments later, he was dead.

* * *

"...So what happened?"

I forgot about Frisk for a moment, too deep in my own toughts.

"Just as you said - Asriel got hurt and escaped, carrying my corpse away. He returned to the Underground and died. That's the last thing I remember." I stopped for a few seconds. "I think his death might be the reason why monsters are hunting humans."

Frisk... well... she had no idea what to say. She just moved closer and embraced me with one arm.

"I'm sorry... you don't want to talk about it, do you? He was your brother..."

I just sighed.

"It won't change by not talking about it, right?" I didn't get any answer. "Come on. We have to go."

"But Toriel told us to..."

"You don't know her. It may take HOURS before she returns. Whatever is she doing, she will have to make sure it's done absolutely perfectly. I know the way. Just keep close."

I turned around to make sure we didn't leave anything - and just for a moment caught glimpse of... something gold disappearing underground. Or was it just light?

In the next room we immediately noticed yet another save point. This one too was flickering wildly, as if it could go out any moment.

"You still didn't tell me what is that!"

Here we go with yet another thing she won't believe.

"So... remember as I said that humans souls are very strong? That's the effect. Those are all over the place, but monsters can't see them. I think they're also on the surface, though there is no way for us to chech that..." She looked at me. "...Anyway, a human soul has something monsters call Determination... yes, that's also written with capital <<D>>... don't look at me like that!... Anyway, we have something called Determination. And I am not talking about the drive to carry on, but... something like a force that gives soul its power. One is strongly tied to another, but those two aren't the same. Monsters have determination, but don't have Determination, while humans have both... umm... you understood, right?"

"...Let's say that yes, though it's already getting confusing."

"So... monsters have magic, with which they can change the world. Humans aren't as skilled at magic, but they instead have Determination, which is even more powerful. But... it has one flaw. Determination of one person... well... it interferes with everyone else's, preventing weaker people from using it. Effectively, only the most determined person in the whole world can actually use it... but the Barrier also blocks that away. Down here we are only humans, and thus - the most determined people. And thus, we can use OUR Determination to interact with the world... most notably - through those... save points."

"Save points? It sounds like something from a video game!"

"And they work the same way. You come to it, save, die, and resurrect..." For heavens know which time she looked at me like I was completely mad. "...You'll see for yourself, if we're unlucky. Now come on."

I led her to the left, where corridor ended with a small room, with a bowl of candy in the middle.

"Take one, it's free. They're very good, and if monsters really might attack us, they might come in handy."

Frisk looked at the bowl and a small sign, reading "Take one" - once again, in human letters rather than monster runes - and took one... handful.

"It still counts as one, right?" Seeing my disapproving look, she just shrugged.

"...How can you sleep at night after doing such terrible things?" I asked with faked exasperation in my voice.

"I don't know. Am I just that unfeeling?" She smiled. "Anyway... just how might those be useful against monsters?"

I looked at her, surprised.

"Don't you..." Oh, right. "...You don't... I almost forgot. Food of monsters is slightly different from what humans eat. It's immediately and completely absorbed by body, and so can heal injuries."

"Are you... sure that it's safe?"

"Of course! I haven't eaten human food for last three... I mean, for last nineteen years - and look at me! I look alive and healthy..." Yeah. Except for the fact that you just came back from death.

We walked past the save point, activating it while passing through. Ruins were empty...

...Suddenly, out of the corner, a froggit with rather characteristic black spot on its forehead appeared - and immediately hopped towards us.

It all happened too fast for me to react. The huge frog monster jumped on Frisk, knocked her to the ground, bounced away and landed in front of her. The girl crawled back in fear, trying to scare him away with the stick she was still carrying. Then one unfortunate hit - and before our very eyes he slowly turned to dust.

Frisk looked at it, fascinated - until it occured to her what she just did. Her look immediately changed to utter shock and horror.

"I... did I just..."

"...You killed him." I also couldn't believe. "YOU KILLED HIM!" It wasn't her fault, but at this point it didn't really matter to me. "YOU... YOU..."

"I DIDN'T MEAN TO... I JUST..." She was close to tears.

Suddenly she stood up and ran over to the save point.

"How to activate it!? We need to go back and... make it unhappen! Right now!"

...She really didn't want it to happen.

I took a deep breath. Then another one. Then I came over to her.

"Stand away. You might save accidentaly. Now focus on that moment we saved and... I don't know, just try to come back!"

It took us a good minute, but finally something happened - and we were both once again standing right next to...

...Save point disappeared.

"Did it work?"

"I don't..."

...Suddenly, out of the corner, a froggit with rather characteristic black spot on its forehead appeared - and immediately hopped towards us.

It did work.

Frisk dodged the monster - only for it to start a magic attack on us. I once again noted on how small her soul was - up until I looked at mine and noticed it's not much bigger, actually. Was it a side effect of fusing it with Asriel's?

Froggit quickly stopped his attack and went away alive, dropping few pieces of gold. There was no way to catch him and give it back, so I decided to just pick it up.

"It worked... it really worked!" She ran towards me and gave me a hug. "We made it!"

"Yeah, but it doesn't seem like we can afford doing it anymore. The save point is gone."

"What?" She looked towards where it used to be. "What are you talking about? It's still here, it even stopped blinking..." It seemed that she suddenly understood something. "...You said that only one person can wield this power and only one can see those... save points?"

"...Right."

"And it means..." She gave me a surprised look. "...Woah... so... I can control time..."

"Only to some extent. But be careful with it."

We slowly walked over where froggit's dust was spread earlier.

"Just what happened to that monster earlier?"

"He turned to dust, just like every other monster after death." I looked forward. "You must be more careful. Monsters are very vulnerable to emotions. One hit is enough if there is enough fear or anger or just malice behind it."

"Okay, I understood." She frowned. "Let's not talk about this, okay? It didn't happen anyway. I really, really don't want to remember that I ever killed anyone... even by accident."

"Right." I could understand it. I myself also did once... well... that's why resets are so useful.

"...Chara? Why didn't you use those resets to... you know, save your brother?"

"Simple. I couldn't." It should be obvious after everything I explained to her. "We went to the surface, where I no longer had the power, and after we returned, I could only reset to the moment of our return. There was nothing I could do."

We went on mostly in silence. Ruins were empty and quiet. There were still questions waiting for answers.


End file.
